Executives and those providing services in high demand will see the greatest salary increases this year among workers, according to recent studies.
Chief executive officers had the highest base salary levels in 2000 ($170,000) and again in 2001 ($187,000), an increase of 10 percent, according to a study by Hale and Dorr LLP, Ernst & Young LLP and J. Robert Scott.
Consistent with last year’s survey, chief operations officers ($168,000, up 3.1 percent from last year) and head of sales ($150,000) had the highest base salary levels for 2001.
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Heads of engineering received the largest base salary increases in 2001 – a 10.5 percent increase from $133,000 to $147,000.
According to another study, released by RHI Consulting, the technology staffing division of staffing firm Robert Half International, in 2002 average starting salaries in the U.S. and Canada are expected to increase just 0.1 percent over 2001. But high-demand positions, such as network security administrators and database managers will see base compensation increases from two to five percent, according to RHI’s 2002 Salary Guide.
The report is compiled each year based on information from job searches, negotiations and placements.
While in many job categories, salary fluctuations over the past year were minimal, what is subject to more dramatic swings, according to RHI Consulting’s Regional Vice President David Vigliotti, are industry demands.
"With the IT industry – more than any other industry – it changes, even quarter to quarter," he said. "A perfect example is 9/11 – it has made security professionals more important . . . Security, firewalls – those things that were getting hot anyway . . . the 9/11 tragedy pushed that, from a skill perspective."
Chief information officers polled in the RHI survey identified networking, Internet/Intranet development, help desk/end-user support, database management and application development as specialties most in demand.
In the Ocean State, programmers, systems engineers and database developers and administrators are among the most desired IT professionals, said Louis Soares, project manager for workforce development and training at the Rhode Island Technology Council (RITEC).
Areas showing the highest salary increases, according to the RHI survey, are consulting and systems integration directors and database managers at 6.1 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively.
"Even though companies are downsizing, you still need people to do upgrades," he said.
Regionally, "Boston will pay higher than the Providence marketplace, basically across the board," said Vigliotti. That difference, he said, is based more upon cost of living than on the actual industry presence in either state.
For example, a programmer/analyst in Boston can expect a salary range between $67,000 and $101,400, while a worker performing the same job in Providence can expect $62,000 to $94,000.
"From a technology perspective, the thing that evolves most rapidly is technology – the specific technical skill sets are always changing," said Aaron D. Lapat, vice president of J. Robert Scott, a Boston-based executive search firm.
Currently in huge demand, Lapat said, are senior-level sales executives.
"In a market where revenue is so difficult to come by . . . Companies need someone who can sell their products," he said.
Heads of sales – at 190 percent – had the highest average bonus increases in 2001, according to the J. Robert Scott survey.
Because they are often headed by technicians with limited business skills, IT companies face some unique challenges when recruiting for top management positions, Lapat said.
"Software companies (for example) are typically founded by technical people," he said. "It’s most common for a founder to assume the CEO role."
Of the more than 900 responses from 178 private companies throughout the country, approximately 30 percent of participating executives are founders. Among chief executive officers, 58 percent are founders, chief operations officers (36 percent) and chief technology officers (58 percent).
"That person begins as the CEO and it’s the very rare person who is able to transition to CEO of a commercial entity that is scaling rapidly . . . You need to bring in experienced management," Lapat said. "It’s difficult, because a technology founder, particularly those who haven’t done it before, have a high emotional connection to their business."
To request the compensation reports used in this story, visit, www.rhic.com and www.jrscott.com. mavromatis@pbn.com.
